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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Judge Andrew Valdez to be Keynote Speaker at Multicultural Youth Leadership Summit in October

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Office of Multicultural Affairs is pleased to announce that Third District Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez will be its keynote speaker during the Multicultural Youth Leadership Summit, Oct. 30, at Weber State University.

“Judge Valdez’s personal story of finding his place in the world as a troubled youth, and his years of offering direction to Utah’s youth is truly an inspiration,” said Utah Office of Multicultural Affairs Director Claudia Nakano.

Judge Andrew A. Valdez was appointed to the Third District Juvenile Court in June of 1993 by Gov. Michael O. Leavitt. He serves Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties. He graduated from the University of Utah College of Law in 1977. Prior to his appointment, Judge Valdez was a commissioned captain in the U.S. Army J.A.G. Corp and trial counsel with the Legal Defenders Association Felony/Homicide Division.

Valdez’s book, “No One Makes It Alone” describes how a poor, fatherless, Westside Latino paperboy was mentored by a businessman, forever changing the boy’s life. Nearly forty years later, Valdez returned the favor. Finding the same man destitute and suffering from Alzheimer’s, Judge Valdez cared for him in his last years.

The Multicultural Youth Leadership Summit: “Preparing for the Real World” will take place Oct. 30, 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the Shepherd Union Building on the campus of Weber State University.